Archive for the ‘Initial D’ category

Sega Japan has updated the site for Initial D5 to include more info, screenshots and a promotional movie. It’s unclear exactly what is all new here (I am sure that hardcore fans of the game already know) but there is a new mode that involves online play that will only be used for a limited time and a new course for players to enjoy. The game certainly looks good for a Lindbergh powered game (I guess they still are holding off on using Europa for more than SR3) and hopefully we’ll find out soon when this will see a wider release.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about Sega’s Intitial D5 – we first had news on this one back towards the end of June and have been waiting to hear something more since. Well here it is, footage of the game in action. There’s no doubt that it looks absolutely great, I wonder what hardware it is running on. The funny thing for me is that just yesterday I had a couple of people asking about getting an Initial D at my arcade but I have never seen one personally and I don’t know if my distributor carries it or not (although they probably could get one).

Here’s the embedded video, it does look like Youtube has added widescreen capability to the videos now but I have only seen that on the site and not on embedded material.

BTW- This is the 300th newsfeed we’ve received from The Stinger Report, time has sure flown by as we approach AH’s 2nd year in operation and again, thanks to the Stinger for the great news they send us.

A bit of Japan news here (which as always we must keep in mind that something here may or may not show up outside of Japan although we always hope that it will), first with a look at another Bemani title from Konami known as Pop N’ Music Party, this is #16 I believe and includes more than 700 songs, with 40 new songs being added to the game along with new characters. The cabinet certainly is colorful and eye-catching, I’d like to see this game being played at least. Speaking of that I believe that it was an earlier Pop N’ Music game that was featured in a popular video that has made the rounds around the internet for a few years, the control panel looks similar but I have never played Pop N’ Music (imports are hard to come by where I’m at).

Also we have an update to the popular technical racer from Sega, Initial D4. While it is not entirely clear what the full details are regarding this update, it’s obvious that it includes some new cars and some improvements to the overall balance of the game. I was hoping to see this at ASI as I don’t know of any arcade near me that has an ID4 unit. Either way the game continues to look great and any improvements to the gameplay to what is already considered a great game deserves a thumbs up.

Also there has been an update to the website for the new arcade fighter Blazblue that includes 2D character artwork against 3D backgrounds. They have posted a video there that shows more of the in-game action but I don’t know if the video is anything different from what was shown in AOU. I think that it looks pretty good and should please fans of these kinds of fighters that love to throw all these over-the-top effects on the screen with the moves. But they also have posted a PDF that shows the move sets for four of the characters.

According to various sites we could be seeing a DS version of Initial D coming our way. Judging by these screen shots, presuming they are genuine, it doesn’t look bad for a DS game, and imagine how good Wi-Fi would be. Fingers crossed.

Now I can only hope this comes out, outside of Japan because I haven’t seen much of Stage 4 in arcades over here (other than Trocadero). I guess I could always import it seeings as the PS3 is region-free.

This summer Sega has Initial D: Extreme Stage as one of their Japanese PlayStation 3 titles, which is essentially a port of Initial D: Arcade Stage 4. Previous home versions of Initial D: Arcade Stage included in online racing and Initial D: Extreme Stage is no exception. Players will be able to race rivals over the PlayStation Network. The first screenshots over at Famitsu look pretty nice, but besides a few pictures of a night battle there isn’t much else known about extra features, if any, over the arcade version.

Gizmodo has a video up of Sega’s Initial D4 Special which we have reported on a few times in the past. It looks like people are certainly interested in it as the page it’s on has almost 20,000 views. For those unfamiliar with ID4 Special, it follows along the lines of other Sega titles that have been made for a large scale, such as HOTD4 Special and Let’s Go Jungle Special. ID4 Special uses life-size cars as the controller for the game, creating an experience you can only find in the amusement sector.

The London 08 Preview is over and with it information on what we can expect to see in arcades next year. Many thanks to Kevin Williams and The Stinger Report for this information. Click on the images to enlarge.

Sega – Demonstrated several games, including a 60% complete version of Sega RaceTV. Two RaceTV cabinets were available and they were quite popular. The game features a Boost feature and a driving style similar to F-Zero. The complete version will be shown at ATEI and include more tracks and a password feature.

An early version of Primeval Hunt was also demonstrated, although it appears to be a larger screen version than what we have seen, which indicates more than one version for operators to purchase.

Virtua Fighter 5 was at the show although Sega doesn’t expect it to sell well (probably because of the console versions already being available). Still it looks great and if they gave it a decent price, it could probably do better than they expect.

New versions of Initial D4, with a larger screen and an operational IC Card reader was quite popular at the show as well.

AfterBurner Simulator was on the floor, it’s the full motion version that looks great and offers quite a unique experience.

Shoot This -Win This! is a new Skill With Prize game that looks really fun and could be the next huge thing in this genre after Stacker. Looks like stocking it with Nintendo DSes is a good idea as well. This is still in prototype form.

Let’s Go Jungle Special Attraction was available to play, it is setup similarly to House of The Dead 4 Special, with guns that are nearly the same.

Here’s a shot of some Sega tokens that were at the show. Stay tuned for more from the show!